Lincoln -- All-American Shane Komine
fired a complete-game five-hitter, as No. 11 Nebraska took the series
opener from No. 23 Texas Tech with a 3-1 victory in front of a crowd of
2,502 at Hawks Field Friday afternoon.
A senior from Honolulu, Komine tied NU's
career record with his 16th career complete-game while only Nick Blankenship's
ninth-inning solo home run prevented the Husker right-hander from his
first shutout of the season. Komine struck out nine and walked none to
improve to 5-0 on the season and has now won 16 straight games against
Big 12 opposition dating back to the 2000 season.
"I felt good out there and had control of
all my pitches today," Komine, who has a 1.17 ERA and 58 strikeouts in
46 innings, said. "I had them off balance until the ninth. I just wish
I had that pitch back."
The Huskers struck early off Tech starter
Nathan Fouts, scoring single runs in the first, second and four innings
off the Red Raider starter, who dropped to 5-3 on the season.
In the first, Matt Hopper put the Huskers
on the board with a RBI sacrifice fly to center, scoring Jeff Leise. The
Huskers center fielder reached on an error, moved to second on Drew Anderson's
base hit before stealing third on a double steal.
Leise, who went 2-for-4 with a career-high
three stolen bases, then gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage in the second
with a two-out RBI single that scored Brandon Eymann from second. Eymann
and Will Bolt drew consecutive walks off Fouts before Leise's delivered
the RBI single to right two batters later.
Freshman Daniel Bruce stretched the Husker
lead to 3-0, driving in Brandon Eymann with the Huskers' third run in
the fourth. Eymann, who was 0-for-2 with two runs scored, walked to open
the inning before moving into scoring position on Bolt's sacrifice bunt
before Bruce, a freshman from Omaha, extended his hit streak to 10 games
with the RBI single, ending the Red Raider starter's day.
Komine, who retired 14 of 15 in one stretch,
improved to 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA in three career appearances against Texas
Tech, was two outs away from his first shutout before Blankenship's homer,
his Big 12-leading 12th of the season, provided Tech its only run of the
afternoon.
"I feel good about the way we pitched and
played defense," Van Horn said. "We could have scored more if we had driven
some people in, but that is the way it goes."
The Huskers and Red Raiders will play at
twinbill Saturday afternoon at 11:30 a.m. at Hawks Field. Jamie Rodrigue
(3-0, 1.01 ERA) will take the hill for the Huskers in the opener, while
sophomore southpaw Aaron Marsden (1-0, 1.17 ERA) will start the nightcap.
Notes: Nebraska has now 18 straight
Big 12 openers dating back to March of 2000...Komine, who is featured
in this week's Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd section, is now
a perfect 18-0 at home
he is also four wins away from becoming the
14th NCAA pitcher to win 40 games and strikeout 400 hitters
NU is
5-0 at Hawks Field and has won 14 straight home games dating back to last
season
.Komine's sixth complete game tied the school mark also held
by Jeff Anderson (1981-84), Tim Burke (1978-80), Cliff Faust (1976-79)
Hopper's
first inning sacrifice fly in the first was the 12th of his career, tying
a school record also held by John Cole (1999-2001), Jed Dalton (1992-95),
Steve Stanicek (1980-82) and Joe Scherger (1977-80)
NU pitchers have
now allowed one earned run in the last four conference contests
Leise
now has a team-high 12 multi-hit games and is 10-of-11 in stolen base
attempts this season.
Doubleheader
Saturday at 11:30 a.m
Because of potential
inclement weather on Sunday, Nebraska has adjusted its schedule for this
weekend's series against Texas Tech. On Saturday, the Huskers and Red
Raiders will play a doubleheader at Hawks Field beginning at 11:30 a.m.
(CST). Satuday's ticket can be used
for the doubleheader, while tickets purchased for Sunday's game can be
redeemed for general-admission seats for any other regularly scheduled
game, based on seating availability.
Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.
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